Write & Shine
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Winter Season



Pause, write and wonder with us in 2021.

We’ll mark the New Year with morning writing workshops, retreats and events taking inspiration from this season’s cool days, long nights and dramatic skies. With its slower pace, darkness and silence, wintertime offers us a good opportunity to pause, to write and to wonder.

Our overall theme this season at Write & Shine is ‘The Creative Path.’ Join us for events on pathways and pilgrimages, as well as hope, determination and trailblazing women.

Hope

Tuesday 12 January, 7.15-9am

Start your new year with an early morning writing workshop about hope. We’ll write about maintaining hope and optimism when so much is uncertain. We’ll explore the forms hope can take in poetry and fiction, too. What are your hopes for 2021?
Book here

Pathways

Thursday 14 January, 7.15-9am

A workshop on pathways, journeys and pilgrimages, taking inspiration from writer Rebecca Solnit who says: “Walking is a mode of making the world as well as being in it.” Join us to write about paths as metaphors for creativity and how we can chart our own creative path.
Book here

Amulet

Tuesday 19 January, 7.15-9am

Poet Miriam Nash will lead a playful workshop, drawing inspiration from amulets and charms that might protect or guide our characters, or ourselves, on winding paths. We’ll look at fascinating amulets from the Wellcome Collection and read poems and prose of protection, wishes and guidance.
Book here

Navigate

Thursday 21 January, 7.15-9am

This workshop is about navigating and how we get our bearings as writers. We’ll use maps as inspiration and for writing prompts. Join us to dive into the rich world of cartography and to read poems about exploration and routes forward.
Book here

Winter Retreat I

Tuesday 26 January, 7.15-9.30am

Bring your work in progress and write as the light lifts – in the company of a friendly group of writers. This writing retreat will begin in darkness, gather energy from the sunrise and conclude with the brightness of morning.
Book here

Wolf

Thursday 28 January, 7.15-9am

A special workshop celebrating the first full moon of the year—the Wolf Moon. We’ll consider the moon, wildness and take inspiration from wolves howling toward the sky.
Book here

Wonder

Tuesday 2 February, 7.15-9am

Toni Morrison’s writing has been described as ‘so charged with pain and wonder that the novel becomes poetry.’ This workshop explores the place of difficulty as well as magic, mystery and wonder as we walk our creative paths. We’ll take Morrison, born this month, and her work as inspiration for our own.
Book here

Desire

Tuesday 9 February, 7.15-9am

In a nod to Valentine’s Day, we’ll host a workshop about love and desire—for people, places and things. We’ll look at characters driven by desire and read love poems that offer something original and unexpected. We’ll also write about short cuts and routes made by walkers, known as ‘desire paths.’
Book here

Trailblazing

Thursday 11 February, 7.15-9am

A bold morning writing workshop about forging ahead, taking risks and transforming the world! We’re marking the new moon in Aquarius, an unconventional and trailblazing starsign. We’ll explore the lives of pioneering women, too.
Book here

Breath

Thursday 18 February, 7.15-9am

Let writer, yogi and creative wellbeing practitioner Patsy Isles guide you on a creative journey into your breath. Inhale the meditative serenity of the morning and exhale to explore the creative pathways that exist beneath the surface of your breath.
Book here

Winter Retreat II

Thursday 23 February, 7.15-9.30am

Our second retreat of the winter season. Another chance to bring your work in progress and write as the light lifts. We’ll begin in darkness, gather energy from the sunrise and conclude with the brightness of morning.
Book here

Determination

Thursday 25 February, 7.15-9am

Our final session of the season is about determination and persistence. We’ll explore ideas around grit and resilience. We’ll also read poets and authors on how to retain focused and keep following the creative path.
Book here